(i) Technical Field
The present invention relates to an electrophotographic photoreceptor, a process cartridge, an image forming apparatus, and a conductive substrate that may be included in an electrophotographic photoreceptor.
(ii) Related Art
In the production of electrophotographic photoreceptors, the outer surface of a conductive substrate is cleaned, and a photosensitive layer is formed on the conductive substrate by coating. For cleaning the outer surface of the conductive substrate, water, warm water, regenerated water, and the like are commonly used as a cleaning liquid. Therefore, a considerable amount of hydroxyl groups may be present on the outer surface of the conductive substrate. If images are formed using such an electrophotographic photoreceptor particularly in a high-temperature, high-humidity environment, where water molecules are likely to adsorb to the conductive substrate, charge may leak locally in the photoreceptor via the water molecules and the photoreceptor may be corroded. This local defects may result in the formation of dot-like image defects (i.e., color spots). The above image defects are particularly likely to occur in an electrophotographic photoreceptor that does not include an undercoat layer.